Results tagged “Insider Movement” from Reformation21

Insider Movement (IM) advocates arrive at their conviction by a variety of different ways. For example, the behavioral sciences are viewed as furnishing a hermeneutical key that unlocks both the Bible and the door into other religions. Other advocates of IM are bare pragmatists and find in IM a possible solution to reaching resistant peoples when all other options have been tried and apparently failed. Still others are universalists and see in other religions a spark that will spontaneously ignite into "christianities" of different forms. Then there are the ecumenicists outside of the evangelical camp who see the lines between Christianity and other religions as blurred beyond recognition. Lastly, there are the pietists who do not concern themselves with doctrine and perceive IM as a movement of the Holy Spirit authenticated by astonishing anecdotes. Some advocates are open to any of these avenues while others are more selective. continue

Dr. Nelson Jennings's Final Response
It is indeed a privilege to testify to God's goodness and greatness, as well as to try and work together regarding how best to serve the cause of the Christian gospel.
It is a painful reality, however, to be thoroughly misunderstood and mischaracterized on important matters too numerous to list, much less to try and discuss, in this brief response. My earlier response (and essays) already attempts to address some of the misunderstandings and mischaracterizations. Let me quickly add that, insofar as I have (unintentionally) misunderstood and misrepresented Dr. Garner on certain points, I sincerely apologize continue

As I prepare to serve as a commissioner to the 2014 PCA General Assembly, I have been refreshing myself on the Insider Movement/s (IM) debate. I began with the study committee's report, a powerful case against IM that David Garner has ably defended. However, although I had read some pro-IM material in the past, I decided to read for myself what some consider the most attractive and compelling work, Carl Medearis's Muslims, Christians and Jesus: Gaining Understanding and Building Relationships (Bethany House, 2008). continue

Editors' Note: The Presbyterian Church in America's 42nd General Assembly will address the work of the Study Committee on Insider Movements (SCIM). For access to the SCIM reports of 2014, click here. However, given the global relevance of this question, in the next several weeks ahead of the Assembly, Rev. Nelson Jennings and Rev. David B. Garner will debate the theology and missiology of Insider Movements. We begin the series with two articles by Nelson Jennings and two articles by David Garner. continue

Hindu-Followers-of-Jesus? Messianic Muslims? Is this something that we should be excited about? Or does it represent the most serious threat to the gospel that the modern missionary movement has yet encountered? David Garner's article "High Stakes: Insider Movement Hermeneutics and the Gospel" (1) is important because it gets under the skin of certain innovations in missions and to the heart of what they are missing - an organic, all-encompassing, gospel-centered hermeneutic. The message of the Bible, not only in its whole, but also in each of its parts, is the story of God's redemption of his people in Christ Jesus.
I have spent most of my life among missionaries and institutions dedicated to reaching Muslims with the gospel. Ours is a unique frontier of Christian presence in the Muslim world, an Evangelical subculture, a sort of 'eco-system', if you will. A variety of perspectives and approaches have been cultivated in this eco-system for good and for ill, including what are known as Insider Movements (IM). continue

Editor's Note: Western missionaries are producing Bible translations that remove "Father," "Son," and "Son of God," due to the offense that Muslims have over these terms for God. In response, the Presbyterian Church in America approved an overture declaring such translations as "unfaithful to God's revealed Word." Yet agencies like Wycliffe and SIL defend the practice, even writing the PCA about the overture. The agencies' appeal, along with a response by PCA pastor Scott Seaton, offers a valuable insight into the current thinking of Wycliffe and the most controversial trend in missions today. continue

Results tagged “Insider Movement” from Reformation21 Blog

Outside the Camp by David B. GarnerCome Back!The recipients of the letter to the Hebrews faced uncompromising pressure to compromise. Ridiculed for abandoning their own religious heritage and for extracting themselves from their very own people, these early followers of... continue

Our own Dr. David Garner will be speaking with Pastor Kevin Boling on Knowing the Truth Radio program regarding What is the "Insider Movement"? Listen live on Thursday (July 3rd) from 11:05am - 11:30am ET."Knowing The Truth" with Pastor Kevin... continue

Never have I so carefully typed quotation marks. Those tiny dashes keep intact both my ordination vows and my soul. They also refer to my enjoyable experience last Sunday attending an international service organized by the Gereformeerde Kerken in IJsselmuiden, Netherlands. Gathered... continue

This just in: the Bible answers the question about how converts in hostile countries are to bear witness to Christ: Publicly. That, at least, is what Jesus said in the first Gospel.Underneath all the missiological mumbo-jumbo and artful dodges--often asserted... continue

The full print version of Pastor Seaton's response is now available for download as a PDF. Simply go to the article "In Pursuit of a Faithful Witness" at reformation21.org and scroll about halfway down. Read the full version and pray... continue

We exist to call the Church, amidst a dying culture, to repent of its worldliness, to recover and confess the truth of God’s Word as did the reformers, and to see that truth embodied in doctrine, worship, and life.